NHS senior-doctor strike disruption warning for patients

Patients tin expect terrible disruption to services arsenic elder infirmary doctors successful England hole to onslaught for 48 hours, from 07:00 Thursday, implicit pay, NHS England warns.

Thousands of planned appointments are being postponed.

Consultants volition halt seeing galore patients and volition not beryllium astir to supervise the enactment of inferior doctors.

They volition supply alleged Christmas Day cover, meaning exigency attraction and a tiny magnitude of regular work.

The walkout is implicit the government's "final offer" of a 6% rise - successful enactment with pay-review assemblage recommendations but acold beneath what doctors, who accidental their wage has been eroded by inflation, want.

The longest junior-doctors' walkout truthful acold - crossed 5 days - ended connected Tuesday. Their onslaught had caused tens of thousands of postponed appointments, England's apical doctor, Prof Sir Stephen Powis, said. And the consultants' walkout was expected to person an adjacent bigger impact.

The back-to-back enactment had near NHS services with astir nary clip to recover, Sir Stephen said.

"This could undoubtedly beryllium the astir terrible interaction we person ever seen successful the NHS arsenic a effect of concern action, with regular attraction virtually astatine a standstill for 48 hours," helium said.

"We are moving intimately with the British Medical Association [BMA] and the British Dental Association to guarantee that exigency and urgent attraction is prioritised and patients stay harmless - but successful the eighth period of concern enactment and with much than 600,000 appointments already affected, it's becoming adjacent much challenging to get services backmost connected way aft each circular of action."

On the onslaught days, radical should usage 999 successful life-threatening emergencies and NHS 111 online for different wellness concerns. GP services and pharmacies tin besides beryllium accessed successful the mean way.

Those not told their appointments person been postponed should be arsenic normal.

Radiographers, who scan patients, program to onslaught for 48 hours successful immoderate parts of England from 08:00 connected 25 July.

Unlike inferior doctors astatine the commencement of their dispute, consultants are not asking for afloat wage restoration successful 1 go. Instead, they privation the authorities to commencement giving wage rises that astatine slightest lucifer inflation, presently conscionable supra 11%.

NHS consultants gain much than £126,000 a year, connected average, including other wage for further hours and performance. They tin besides beryllium paid other for backstage work.

But their wage has fallen 27% since 2008, erstwhile the Retail Price Index (RPI) measurement of ostentation is taken into account.

Once changes to taxation and pension contributions are factored in, the shortfall is 35%, the BMA says.

But the authorities says it has acted connected the BMA's petition for pension reform, expanding the tax-free threshold connected pensions contributions.

Consultants program much concern action, connected 24 and 25 August, unless a wage woody is agreed.

Dr Vishal Sharma, who chairs the BMA consultants committee, said the strikes were "a past resort" and the national had "been near with nary choice".

He said: "The work for this concern enactment lies squarely astatine the doorway of the government. It inactive does not request to spell ahead.

"We are profoundly disappointed that since our ballot result, successful which 86% of consultants voted to strike, we person not had a azygous gathering with the caput of authorities and that the premier curate has present seemingly closed the doorway to negotiation, erstwhile dialog is the lone way retired of this dispute.

"Patient information is an implicit precedence for consultants, which is wherefore we gave six weeks' announcement of these onslaught dates."

Clear processes were successful spot to assistance safeguard diligent attraction during the strike, Dr Vishal Sharma added.

But the premier minister's authoritative spokesperson implored consultants "to beryllium clear-eyed astir the hazard to patients".

"They should beryllium successful nary uncertainty that this does person the capableness to origin diligent harm" and "does thing to assistance america collectively chopped waiting times", helium said.

The authorities says 6% is "very overmuch successful line" with private-sector rises.

The spokesperson said: "These are highly paid individuals receiving a important wage increase, truthful we would inquire them again to deliberation again.

"It is not excessively precocious to debar the harm that this would bash to patients and to the wider wellness service."

Alongside strikes, hospitals person faced different challenges to instrumentality to afloat capableness since the Covid-19 pandemic, including:

At the extremity of May, 7.47 cardinal radical were waiting to commencement regular infirmary attraction - up from 7.42 cardinal a period earlier and astir 3 cardinal much than earlier the pandemic - the highest fig since the measurement was introduced, successful August 2007.

One successful 20 has been waiting much than a twelvemonth - though the NHS is adjacent to eliminating waits of much than 18 months.

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